The Nude

1999: An island off the southern coast of Greece. Art historian Elizabeth Clarke arrives with the intent to acquire a rare female sculpture. But what begins as a quest for a highly valued cultural artifact evolves into a trip that will force Elizabeth to contend with her ambition, her desire, and her troubling history.

Disoriented by jet lag, debilitating migraines, and a dependence on prescription pills, Elizabeth finds herself enthralled by her new surroundings – and equally, by her translator’s inscrutable wife, a young artist named Theo.

As the nude’s acquisition proves to be riskier than she could have ever imagined, the fates of Elizabeth and the sculpture are called into question. To find a way out, Elizabeth must grapple with the role she’s played in the global art trade and the ethical fallout her personal and professional decisions could leave behind.

The Nude is an evocative and intense exploration of art and cultural theft, combining the moody atmosphere of Katie Kitamura’s A Separation and the complex gender dynamics of Lisa Taddeo’s Animal with the sensual exploration of female desire of Deborah Levy's Hot Milk. Your next summer obsession!

'As thought-provoking as it is propulsive, The Nude is a tense and sultry tale of art, beauty and power. A richly detailed read for the salty summer months' - Chloë Ashby, author of Second Self

'With rippling prose, C. Michelle Lindley carves a taut and thrilling story about the necessary role of art in society, and sheds light on the sweltering way that complex beauty entangles not just its viewers, but those who seek to claim it' - Elle Nash, author of Deliver Me

'An incredibly sensitive and perceptive exploration of femininity, ownership and beauty... A tale that will keep you guessing up until the last page' - Hanna Johansson, author of Antiquity

'A captivating and profound novel that delves unflinchingly into the eternal love triangle between desire, power, and art... Masterful' - Antoine Wilson, author of Mouth to Mouth

'In sumptuous, lyrical prose, C. Michelle Lindley excavates thorny questions of art, ownership, and agency. At once cerebral and hallucinatory, seductive and unsettling, The Nude is a fever dream of a debut' - Antonia Angress, author of Sirens & Muses

'The Nude dives headlong into tense questions about art and ownership and the unanswerable enigma of beauty... I'll be thinking about this book for a long time' - Alyssa Songsiridej, author of Little Rabbit

'A remarkable debut, a slow-burn page-turner that turns a sweltering Greek island into a haunting house of mirrors. C. Michelle Lindley would have made Patricia Highsmith and Graham Greene proud' - Chris Bohjalian, author of Hour of the Witch

'Stunning, complex and carefully crafted... The lush, lyrical writing of The Nude depicts the gray areas of cultural appropriation, ethics, and sexuality so seamlessly, I had to remind myself to breathe while reading' - Ling Ling Huang, author of Natural Beauty

'Thrillingly taut and magnetically told, The Nude pries apart the pristine veneer of classical art and allows something sublimely twisted to emerge' - Alexandra Kleeman, author of Something New Under the Sun

'Set on a Greek island, wrought in a delirium of desire and loss, The Nude looks unflinchingly at the violent contestation of the female body - as artifice and art, and object and agent alike... Exhilarating, terrifying, and brilliant' - Emily Fridlund, author of History of Wolves

This novel contains discussions of sexual assault.